DPM ON ANWAR TRIAL : LET THE LAW TAKE ITS COURSE

Malaysia, he said, respects the rule of law and the people uphold the country's justice system.

"The judiciary has its role and this is enshrined in the system in Malaysia and we want the international community to respect this," he told reporters after chairing a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Human Capital here today.

He was commenting on the call by the US Senate's Committee on Foreign Relation chairman John Kerry, urging Malaysia to give Anwar a fair trial.

Muhyiddin said that the due process of law should be allowed to take place.

"Let the court decide. We cannot say Anwar is guilty or not guilty... it's for the court to decide," he said.

On the call for the government drop the charge against Anwar, Muhyiddin said people were entitled to their opinion but the government was duty-bound to uphold its justice system.

"Why should we prejudge? Why should we be seen as though we have caused him injustice?"

Muhyiddin said if the country bowed to the demand, it meant that the country was weak and had strayed from its democratic principles.

"The court process has started; for a country which practises democracy to interfere and demand that the court stop the trial, I think this is rather astounding," he said.

On the call by opposition leaders for a special Dewan Rakyat session to debate a motion to drop the sodomy charge against Anwar, Muhyiddin said he was surprise that such a call was made by those who claimed to understand how the system worked in the country.

"How can (DAP parliamentary leader) Lim Kit Siang suggest that the legislative interfere in the judiciary. I think they got it all jumbled up," Muhyiddin said.

He said he could see that the opposition parties were confused as they felt that their positions were under threat but said that the matter should not be politicised.

"It is now with the court and let's not judge a person to be guilty or not guilty of something. We should respect the due process of the law.

"I think they know the roles of parliament and the judiciary. There should be a separation of powers between these two, otherwise there will be confusion," he said.

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About Me

Mohd Kamal Abdullah frequently writes in Malaysiakini, MalaysiaToday and in the FORUM column of MALAYSIA CHAT www.malaysia-chat.com. Kamal holds a law degree and was active in Malaysian Politics (a component party of Barisan Nasional) until of late, to concentrate on pursuing a post-graduate law degree in United Kingdom.